On our two-week visit to Jordan, we took a tour of the Desert Castles that lie to the east of the capital, Amman. And poor Graham coped remarkably well bearing in mind he had a stomach bug. The weather was bleak as we hit the highway out of the city, fresh from a night in the…
Author: Stephen
A trip on the Napa Valley Wine Train in California
We couldn’t go to San Francisco without visiting wine country for a day. But not wanting to drive, and on the recommendation of a friend, we opted for lunch on the Napa Valley Wine Train. Our week in San Francisco coincided with one of the hottest Septembers in years and so it was another magical and…
Istanbul: A long weekend in Sultanahmet
Sultanahmet is the historic heart of Istanbul, the most famous of Turkey’s cities. It may not be the capital but it’s the only city that sits astride Europe and Asia. Just a few months after we visited Istanbul, it was gripped by the worst riots in years. But it seems that historic Sultanahmet escaped the…
Walking in the hills around Morzine
The French Alpine resort of Morzine has grand landscapes and numerous summer walking paths but during our August weekend stay the weather had been mixed. Fortunately our last day delivered sunshine and blue skies so after studying our maps we decided to spend the day walking on Le Pleney – the hill on the other side of…
Morzine, Lake Montriond and the waterfalls
Just a few miles from the French Alpine resort of Morzine lies magical Lake Montriond and some spectacular waterfalls. The area is criss-crossed by walking routes and has magnificent views, making it an ideal spot to shake off a crashing headache brought on by mixing vodka, wine, beer and a mysterious local liquor in the…
A walk from Morzine to Avoriaz
Day three of our stay in the French Alps found us walking in the mountains from Morzine to Avoriaz and sheltering from a spectacular downpour. The rain had long been forecast and, as we tucked into breakfast at our hotel, the clouds started to roll in. Things were not looking good for a day out –…
Visiting Morzine in the French Alps
A long weekend in the French ski resort of Morzine gave us the chance to experience the majestic Alps in summer and to soak up the sunshine on mountain walks. It was chucking it down with rain in London as we left Heathrow Terminal 5 on British Airways flight 730 for Geneva and the weather forecast for our weekend…
A few days in Quimper, Brittany
Colourful Quimper is the oldest city in Brittany and many of its handsome medieval buildings remain intact, making it an attractive stop on the tourist trail. But it wasn’t exactly throbbing with life when we arrived at the start of our week-long holiday in the north-west of France. In fact, much of Quimper had shut…
San Francisco: A walk to the Ferry Building
On a sweltering September day we discovered the beautiful Filbert Steps and other San Francisco landmarks on a walk to the famous Ferry Building. Our stay coincided with a rare late summer heatwave, with temperatures on some days hitting the 90s, but we weren’t going to let the weather put us off exploring the city….
A week in Mykonos
We spent a glorious week in May on the Greek island of Mykonos, enjoying the quiet of low season before the holidaymakers arrived in droves. But there was no avoiding the vast cruise ships and their armies of passengers. Most days the ships appeared in the harbour of Mykonos Town, dumping wave after wave of…
Skiing in Ischgl, Austria
Back when I had youth on my side, apres ski was as integral to my winter holiday as the skiing. Shame, then, that I didn’t discover the Austrian resort of Ischgl in my 20s. Back then I could’ve stayed up until the early hours, swilling lager and dancing to 70s and 80s disco hits, as…
From Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon by helicopter
It’s a tour we’ll never forget – a helicopter trip to the West Rim of the spectacular Grand Canyon in Nevada, the Hualapai Indian Reservation and the famous glass SkyWalk. It revealed our planet at its most dramatic and delivered the most awesome of panoramas. But it did mean an early start from our hotel…
A visit to the Château de Keriolet, Brittany
In the southern depths of Brittany is the French seaside town of Concarneau, a long-established fishing port famous for its delicious sardines. Its historic, walled old town, the ville close, is full of character and its beaches are hugely popular in the height of summer. Not that we were able to enjoy them, thanks to…
By the beach: Castiglione della Pescaia, Italy
Tuscany had been tiring. We’d seen the sights and celebrated at a friend’s wedding, so once all the drama was over we needed somewhere to recover. We found it in the seaside town of Castiglione della Pescaia. How different it was from Florence, Siena and Pisa, where armies of holidaymakers had tested my temper to the…
Zaha Hadid’s stunning Innsbruck railway
The late great architect Zaha Hadid designed some of the very best modern buildings. Her aquatic centre in Stratford’s Olympic Park, to take just one example, is the greatest of the London 2012 venues. But it’s odd that her reptilian, ultra-modern and oh-so organic designs are found scattered across the seemingly conservative Austrian city of…